About Us | History | Board of Directors | Awards
Following an inspiring visit to the W.O. Smith Music School in Nashville, Tennessee, former Raleigh City Councilwoman Mary Cates motivated local musicians to start a music school to serve financially disadvantaged families in our community. Similar schools have played pivotal roles in nurturing some of America’s great artistic talents, including clarinetist Benny Goodman, singer Johnny Mathis, dancer Martha Graham, and actress Helen Hayes.
Community Music School’s mission is to enrich the lives of children from low-income families through affordable, quality music instruction. Since 1994, we have positively impacted more than 2,000 at-risk youth in Wake County, NC through our music education programs.
Each weekly, privately taught lesson costs the student only $1 thanks to the generosity and support of individual donors, corporations, foundations, and public grants. We provide instruments for students’ use free of charge during their enrollment. Recitals, concerts, community performances, and special events in partnership with other arts organizations add to classroom instruction.
In 2010, we joined the Berklee College of Music’s City Music Network, a select, national group of schools offering the Berklee PULSE™ music method to under-served teens at no cost to them.
